After visiting the old town with its fortified walls, Büdingen, we move a few kilometers and see the Ronneburg castle, and then take a short look at Gelnhausen.
half-timbered
Büdingen – half-timbered town wrapped in medieval walls
Büdingen is a very good-preserved old town with medieval walls — not a patchwork of reconstructions, not just a handful of historic buildings, but a fully intact old town. Majestic towers and mighty walls still stand, enclosing a historical center that feels untouched by time.
“Mountain road” Bergstrasse. From Darmstadt to Heidelberg
The region from Heidelberg to Frankfurt is usually overlooked by tourists. However, touristic route Bergstrasse has its own character and a fair number of quite decent attractions. It is not suitable for a full-fledged vacation, but for a pleasant few days, a day trip or a stop along a long route – quite excellent. You can get around by car, train or bike. The best time is spring and autumn.
Einbeck – half-timbered jewel
It would seem that half-timbered towns are nothing new for us. But Einbeck turned out to be a real jewel in our collection: here you don’t need to look for a couple old buildings on the map, you get the feeling that the city has hardly changed since the 16th century.
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen
Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen lie on the “short” road from Stuttgart to Nuremberg. Here the Swabian Alb ends, passing into the hilly Swabia, with deep winding valleys in which tributaries of the Neckar flow – three tributaries begin near Aalen. Previous generations fully appreciated the landscape: the Romans and medieval Swabians left in the region the remains of ancient Roman fortresses and a chain of half-timbered towns with city walls.
The region is suitable for excursions from Stuttgart or Ulm or for short holidays.
Alsace Wine Route. 1. Ribeauville, Riquewihr
In this part of the story about Alsace, we will look at Ribeauville and Riquewihr.
The Alsace Wine Route has been around for over 70 years and is (deservedly) extremely popular. The question of choice inevitably arises – which city to visit? In the topic, I chose the very best cities and villages from a cultural point of view (the most beautiful).
Schiltach in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald)
Preparing for the travel I rated for myself Schiltach in the Black Forest as “a particularly picturesque city” from the descriptions and photographs. Reality confirmed it: Schiltach is indeed a very picturesque town, very half-timbered and very floral. Unfortunately, we got into a midday break and could not go to the pharmacy museum, but we had a wonderful walk und visited another museum.
The town is located at the confluence of two rivers. To complete the picture, some kind of castle is missing. The castle was, but it is all over. There is only the castle hill, a covered wooden bridge and ruins remained – the rest was sold for building materials at the end of the 18th century.
Schwäbisch Hall. 1. What to see in old town
An old city with its own traditions, Schwäbisch Hall lies a bit off the tourist track. But it is certainly worth to visit. Schwäbisch Hall is a part of Castle Road (Burgenstrasse) – very good tourist road, with various attractions, although not so gut known as Romantic Road.
In addition to the old city centre, you can see the Darmstadt Madonna – the famous painting by Hans Holbein the Younger (and a couple of other famous paintings), the Comburg monastery and the Wackershofen open-air museum.
Esslingen Old town and map
Esslingen is located in the Neckar Valley near Stuttgart. Behind it the Neckar becomes unnavigable upstream, and from Stuttgart to Esslingen endless factories, plants and power plants stretch along the river.
Therefore, despite the fact that the old city itself is pretty, you can easily replace it with another one. You can find the same well-preserved half-timbered house in less industrial places: in Tübingen, Bad Wimpfen, Besigheim, not to mention the Black Forest.